The present invention relates in general to fishing rods, and more particularly, to fly fishing rods made from fiber reinforced resin.
Fishing rods have been made from tapered hollow tubes for many, many years. The tapered hollow tubes are called blanks. Most modern fishing rods are made from blanks of fiber reinforced synthetic resin. The blanks taper from a butt end having a larger diameter to a tip end having a smaller diameter. Reel seats, grips, line guides, and tips are mounted on the rod blanks to make a finished fishing rod. Fishing rods and, especially fly fishing rods, are often provided in sections so the rod may be transported in a case less lengthy than the assembled rod.
A typical fly fishing rod includes a grip and a mechanism for mounting a reel near the butt end. A series of line guides are attached to the rod along its length ending at the tip end. Line is fed from the reel through the line guides to the tip. In fly fishing particularly, the flexing characteristics of the rod are very important. The flexing characteristics have a major influence on the ability of a fisherman to cast a fly toward a desired location with a desired presentation upon the water. To improve this flexing characteristic, rod builders have used a wide variety of materials and designs. Bamboo has given way to various synthetic reinforced resins to achieve desirable flex characteristics. The taper and weight of the tube forming the rod blank has also been carefully controlled. As rods in their finished states are often sectional, the design of the joint holding the sections together has been carefully thought out to provide appropriate flexing characteristics. Considerable efforts have been expended in designing and building fly rods to achieve flexing characteristics and thus improve casting. However, the perfect fly rod has yet to be achieved.